North Seattle College (NSC or North Seattle) is a

public college A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, United States. It is one of three colleges comprising the

Seattle Colleges District The Seattle Colleges District (previously Seattle Community Colleges District; also known simply as Seattle Colleges) is a group of public colleges in Seattle, Washington. It nowadays consists of three colleges— North Seattle College, Seattle ...

and part of the

Washington Community and Technical Colleges The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) is a Washington state agency that oversees and coordinates between the 34 members of Washington's public community and technical college system. Governed by a nine-member bo ...

system. Founded in 1970, NSC is

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

by the

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...

, and offers associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, university transfer, and certificate programs, as well as

continuing education Continuing education is the education undertaken after initial education for either personal or professional reasons. The term is used mainly in the United States and Canada. Recognized forms of post-secondary learning activities within the d ...

and college preparation programs. In March 2014, the board of trustees of the Seattle Community Colleges District voted unanimously to change the name of the district to "Seattle Colleges" and North Seattle Community College became ''North Seattle College''.

Academics

NSC programs include academic degrees, college prep and transfer,

cross-disciplinary An academic discipline or academic field is a subdivision of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined (in part) and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, a ...

, continuing and senior adult education programs. NSC is also home to the Watch Technology Institute, the only two-year program in the art of Swiss

watchmaking A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

and technology in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

United States. NSC also provides

Running Start Running Start is a dual credit enrollment program in Washington, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Montana and Illinois which allows high school juniors and seniors to attend college courses numbered 100 or above, while completing high school. It is simi ...

, where high school juniors and seniors can take college classes to earn high school credits as well as college credits. Since 2010, as part of a new Washington State educational initiative, North Seattle College began offering Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree programs to students that have previously completed a two-year degree.

Campus

The North Seattle College main

campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

occupies , including of environmentally sensitive

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s, in the Licton Springs/North College Park neighborhood of the Northgate district of Seattle. Located at 9600 College Way North, the campus is north of the

city center A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms that exist in ...

and is easily accessed from

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

, several

King County Metro King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in t ...

bus routes, and Northgate Station of the Link 1 Line via a dedicated pedestrian bridge over I-5. NSC campus consists of various academic, athletics & supporting facilities: *The college's library was founded in 1970; as of 2017, it contains over 174,000 volumes (books, media, serials) in the physical and digital collection, along with 40 plus databases that provide access to many thousands of scholarly, popular, trade, and newspaper articles. *The Computer Lab facilities & laboratories *North Seattle Indoor Arena, Physical Education, gymnasium, fitness & wellness center *NSC Bookstore *NSC Art Gallery

Wetlands

The North Seattle College Wetlands sit at the South Fork of

Thornton Creek Thornton Creek is of urban creeks and tributaries from southeast Shoreline, Washington, Shoreline through northeast Seattle to Lake Washington. Its watershed, the largest in Seattle, exhibits relatively dense biodiversity for an urban setting ...

and are important ecological lands for the Thornton Creek watershed as they work as a sponge to hold surge flows of water as well as filtering out pollutants. The wetlands serve as a critical habitat for many species including the

Pacific Tree Frog The Pacific tree frog (''Pseudacris regilla''), also known as the Pacific chorus frog, has a range spanning the Pacific Northwest, from Northern California, Oregon, and Washington to British Columbia in Canada and extreme southern Alaska. They l ...

and

Long-toed salamander The long-toed salamander (''Ambystoma macrodactylum'') is a mole salamander in the family Ambystomatidae. This species, typically long when mature, is characterized by its mottled black, brown, and yellow pigmentation, and its long outer fourth ...

, as well as several species of avian and plant life. Currently, there is a system of crude trails that get you to and through most of the wetlands habitat. The main trail is a loop that walks around the northern part of campus. There are spurs that branch off of this main loop trail. An interpretive trail is in progress and a map is available with points of interest for those wishing to explore the wetlands further. Harefoot Mushroom

A wide variety of native and non-native plant species can be observed throughout the main campus and surrounding wetlands habitat. There are many mushrooms growing in and around the wetlands. Some notable species include Redlead Roundhead (''

Stropharia aurantiaca The genus ''Stropharia'' (sometimes known by the common name roundheads) is a group of medium to large agarics with a distinct membranous ring on the stipe. Well-known members of this genus include the edible ''Stropharia rugosoannulata'' and the ...

''), Harefoot Mushroom (''

Coprinopsis lagopus ''Coprinopsis'' is a genus of mushrooms in the family Psathyrellaceae.' ''Coprinopsis'' was split out of the genus '' Coprinus'' based on molecular data. The species '' Coprinopsis cinerea'' is a model organism for mushroom-forming basidiomycota ...

''), Fiber Caps (''Inocybe mixtilis''),

Shaggy Parasol Shaggy parasol is the common name for three closely related species of mushroom: ''Chlorophyllum rhacodes'', ''C. olivieri'' and ''C. brunneum'', found in North America, Europe and Southern Africa. ''C. brunneum'' is also found in ...

(''Chlorophyllum olvieri''), and Bellybutton Hedgehog (''Hydnum umbilicatum''). Nootka Rose

Wetlands shrub life includes Snowberry Shrubs (''

Symphoricarpos albus ''Symphoricarpos albus'' is a species of flowering plant in the honeysuckle family known by the common name common snowberry. Native to North America, it is browsed by some animals and planted for ornamental and ecological purposes, but is pois ...

''), Himalayan Blackberry ('' Rubus discolor''), Burning Bush (''Eunonymus alatus''), and Nootka Rose ''(Rosa Nutkana''). Campus and wetlands are also home to many plants such as Sumac (''Rhus Species''), Yarrow (''

Achillea millefolium ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

''), Sword Fern (''

Polystichum munitum ''Polystichum munitum'', the western swordfern, is an evergreen perennial fern native to western North America, where it is one of the most abundant ferns in forested areas. It occurs along the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to southern C ...

''), and Common Horsetail (''

Equisetum arvense ''Equisetum arvense'', the field horsetail or common horsetail, is an herbaceous perennial plant in the Equisetidae (horsetails) sub-class, native throughout the arctic and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It has separate sterile ...

'').

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Universities and colleges in Seattle Community colleges in Washington (state) Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Universities and colleges established in 1970 1970 establishments in Washington (state) Two-year colleges in the United States

Academics

Campus

Wetlands

See also

References

External links